[274]. State Papers, vol. cxii., No. 104.
[275]. Even King James, it is said, was not exempt from the designs of the wicked. In the State Paper Office is the following entry:—“A man named Peacock, a schoolmaster, to be committed to the Tower and tortured, ‘for practising sorcery on the King, to infatuate him in Sir Thomas Lake’s business.[business.]’”
[276]. The interior was destroyed by fire, in 1816; it has been rebuilt in a style of great magnificence.
[277]. The present Duke of Rutland traces his descent in direct line from the founder of the castle, Robert de Belvedeir.
[278]. In January, 1814, when George IV., then Prince Regent, was received at Belvoir Castle, the key of Staunton Tower, of gold, and beautifully wrought, was presented to him in the drawing-room, on a gold cushion, by the Rev. Dr. Staunton, with a suitable address. Nichols’s Progress, vol. ii., p. 458.
[279]. The whole of the castle stands in Leicestershire.
[280]. Note in Nichols’s Progresses, vol. i., p. 490.
[281]. Wilson’s Life of James I., p. 149.
[282]. Letter from Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton. Inedited State Papers, March 11th, 1619-20.
[283]. From Court and Times of King James. Bishop Goodman, vol. ii., p. 189.